Over the past thirty years, telephony has significantly evolved from the once-ubiquitous public switched telephone network (PSTN) service. Telecommunications consumers today have a wide range of telecommunications options to choose from, including traditional landline phone service, IP-based telecommunications services (based on, for example, Voice over Internet Protocol), cellular telecommunications services, and converged telecommunications services (such as Unlicensed Mobile Access or UMA).
Telecommunications devices now consist of a myriad of form factors, such as traditional landline phones, cordless phones, cellular phones, smart phones, PDA phones, desktop and portable computers, media players, home telecommunications hubs, or the like (hereinafter “telecommunications devices”), which have become a ubiquitous part of modern life. Originally, most of these telecommunications devices just provided two-way voice communication between a first person at a first location using a first telecommunications device and a second person at a second location using a second telecommunications device, so that the first person and the second person were able to carry on a conversation. For example, a voice communication or call normally involved real-time, duplex, synchronous voice communications, in which all participants hear the other participants in real time, all participants can simultaneously speak, and all participants are actively engaged and respond directly and immediately to each other without significant interruption.
More recently, telecommunications devices are frequently capable of both voice and data communications, using various modes of such communications. Email, text messages (e.g., Short Message Service or SMS), and multimedia messages (e.g., Multimedia Messaging Service or MMS) are well-known forms of asynchronous data communications. Email was originally used with computers, but is now commonly sent and received through telecommunications devices as well. SMS text messaging has been used for many years in the area of cellular telecommunications. Participants are typically engaged in the communications at different times, and their participation might occur as a number of small, non-contiguous, asynchronous interactions.
In addition to person-to-person communications, many modern telecommunications devices are capable of other types of data communications through access to the Internet and other databases. For example, many telecommunications devices have built-in web browsers for Internet navigation.
Voicemail is another voice communications mode, in which a caller leaves a recorded message for a recipient. The recipient listens and responds to a voicemail message at his or her leisure. Because of the time lag between leaving the message and actually listening or responding to the message, this communications mode is referred to as asynchronous.
It should be noted that both voice and data communications might be implemented using the same wireless and IP-based technologies. In some situations, particularly with conventional cellular or IP-based systems, voice might be communicated using a proprietary cellular protocol, while data and non-voice communications are based on other protocols carried over a cellular and/or an IP-based telecommunications network.
Telecommunications devices vary in complexity and capabilities, from simple devices that support only voice communications, to very sophisticated devices with capabilities of personal computers. Higher-end telecommunications devices are identified to include smart phones, but increasingly include desktop and portable computers. These include telecommunications devices that typically have an operating system executed from some form of solid-state memory by one or more processors.
Further, advances in technology have added an ever increasing array of features and capabilities to telecommunications devices, such as touch screens, video and still cameras, web browsing capabilities, email sending and receiving capabilities, music download, storing and playback capabilities, calendar and contact managing capabilities, GPS (global positioning system) location and navigation capabilities, game playing capabilities, and television capabilities, to name a few. Many of these features and capabilities are provided through specialized applications resident on the telecommunications devices. For example, many telecommunications devices allow the user to further customize the device through custom configuration options or by adding third-party software. Such software is available for many different functions, not limited to communications. For instance, a variety of applications, such as dedicated computer programs or software, applets, or the like, can be loaded on a telecommunications device by the consumer, the network service provider, or by the telecommunications device manufacturer. These applications can then be activated on the telecommunications device as needed or desired by the user, or as particular functions of the telecommunications device are accessed. Some of these applications may come pre-installed by the network service provider or manufacturer, while others may be purchased and installed by the users of the telecommunications devices after purchase.
Further, many network service providers or telecommunications device manufacturers now provide a website or “store” from which users may purchase various applications (i.e., an “app store”) to add various capabilities to their telecommunications devices. These network service providers or manufacturers also enable third parties to create third party applications that can be downloaded and used on the telecommunications devices. For example, an app store might make available for download a large number of applications written by third parties, in addition to applications provided by the network service provider or by the telecommunications device manufacturer. The third party applications and service provider/manufacturer applications might typically be marketed for a specified download fee, and may be purchased from the app store through the Internet or over the network service provider's own network. By picking and choosing which applications to download to a particular telecommunications device, the telecommunications device owner can decide which corresponding capabilities the particular telecommunications device will be endowed with. Further, word-of-mouth or viral marketing can contribute greatly to the sales success of particular applications. For example, a particular user might show an application on her telecommunications device to her friends, who will then purchase the application for use on their own telecommunications devices. In some cases, the application might be transferred to the telecommunications devices for a free trial and the users are then given an option to purchase the application.
Some applications are able to function while a user of a telecommunications device is carrying on a conversation on the telecommunications device. For example, a user may have a headset or speakerphone feature enabled so that the user is able to view the display of the telecommunications device while talking on the telecommunications device. Thus, the user is then able to view a user interface presented by an application while carrying on a conversation. For instance, during a voice call, the user of the telecommunications device may initiate a personal information manager (PIM) application on the telecommunications device for accessing a phone number of a third party to read the third party's phone number to the person on the other end the call. Thus, while telecommunications devices currently provide a multitude of features, the ever-increasing popularity of telecommunications devices makes it desirable to develop new types of uses, applications and features.